Megalomania
by Die Forelle
Summary: Professor Oak requested Ash's immediate assistance. However, when Ash arrived, it wasn't the exact Oak he'd been expecting to see. .AshGary. .SatoshiShigeru.
1. Chapter 1

**I've really never seen anything after the original pokemon, so yeah. Don't judge me. I used the American names to make it less confusing for me, too. So there. :3 Chapter one, yay.**

"Did you brush your hair this morning?"

He felt the corner of his mouth twitch into a frown. "Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"_Yes_."

"It looks like-"

"I brushed it!" He cried, grabbing hold of the nearby brush and yanking it through his hair. He jerked when it caught a tangle, knocking the hat off his head, and scowled.

Mrs. Ketchum grinned. "You have terrible hat hair, Ash."

He muttered under his breath, and snapped the cap back on his head. If it'd been up to him, when he'd received a telegram from Professor Oak requesting his immediate assistance, Ash would have found some way to slip through Pallet without being noticed by his mother. But as he crept passed the house, she'd been outside chattering away to Mimie as the pokemon swept the sidewalk.

"I really need to get going, Mom, Profes-"

"He can wait." The woman cut him off. She pulled open the fridge and began to shuffle around inside for something. "It seems like I haven't seen you in months…"

And she hadn't, Ash realized with a thread of guilt. He loved his mother, of course, but there wasn't time to keep backpedaling to Pallet for a visit. That was the reason. _Really_.

He glanced to the chair at his right, where Pikachu had been ushered to sit on a pile of books. Only its eyes peaked over the tabletop, bored.

Mrs. Ketchum pulled her head out of the fridge, frowning at the cake now in her hands. The middle of it had deflated, one of the corners missing, and, well… it had seen better days. "I was saving this for you, Ash." She stared at the 16 and a half (Lord only knew why half of the last one was missing) candles stuck haphazardly into the green icing.

Pikachu wrinkled its nose. Ash grimaced. "My birthday was over a month ago."

"I know," she said slowly, as if this was dawning on her for the first time. Mrs. Ketchum sat the cake down on the table, Ash and Pikachu watching her closely. She brought a hand to her cheek, lost. "My little boy's… growing up so quickly."

He groaned. "Don't do that, Mom. I still have a while."

"I know!" She perked up suddenly, smiling again. "Mimie and I'll just make you a new cake and then we can have a real birthday party for you! Won't that be lovely, Ash?"

**:---:**

The lobby was cold. Ash shifted his weight, standing uncomfortably at the reception desk. A woman in a white coat sat at a computer, phone on her ear, occasionally bobbing her head as she scribbled something down on a yellow memo pad. Pikachu sat atop his shoe, ear twitching, impatient.

He raised a hand, hesitantly, "Excuse me, ma'am?"

She let the phone fall to her shoulder a minute, and turned her dull gaze on him. "Let me guess, Mr. Ketchum."

"How did you-"

"You have your mother's nose."

He felt his cheeks get hot. "Ah, yeah, I guess… I'm here to see Professor Oak?" She pointed to an open door across the room. Nodding thanks, Ash followed the direction of her finger. Pikachu huffed, trotting along to his right.

He hadn't been down this hall before, Ash realized. There were no doors along the walls, only a different photograph of a poke'mon every other step. _Charmelion, Squirtle, Scyther, Clefable…_

The door at the end was slightly ajar. He hesitated, debating whether or not to knock or go on in. He could hear footsteps beyond, clapping across the tile, growing louder. _Oak_, he decided, and pushed the door open. 

The first time, there is always hesitation. An inkling, somewhere, because entering the unknown goes against instinct. Slowly, confidence slithers through the cracks and fills the mind. Slowly. And over time, the lingering doubt of what is expected _slips away_… 

"You're late."

He couldn't move. The greeting that had bubbled to his lips died in his throat. Tense, caught off guard, the confusion found him in its grasp. "Gary." He hadn't meant the name to sound so weak on his tongue, empty, and still with the uncertainty he found curled around it. He frowned. "I thought Professor Oak needed to-"

The man laughed, a smug grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. "The old man's away on a trip."

"Should I wait for him to get back?" Ash asked quickly, before realizing his mistake. The sarcastic laugh that ensued made him scowl. And then just as quickly, he pulled the hat from his head and did a mock bow. "What do you need me for, then?"

Gary, still seeming to enjoy himself, leaned against the wall. He folded his arms across his chest, looking Ash over silently, and smirked. "You have terrible hat hair."


	2. Chapter 2

**Jam, ten reviews on the first chapter! And as I said before, I've not really seen anything after season one, maybe two, so please feel free to point out my little mistakes or lapses in canon. Thanks again, everyone! ;3 ( I'm sorry about the short length of this... )**

"I don't like pickles," Ash pointed out, annoyed, eyeing the young man across from him as if the information should have been something he'd all ready known.

Gary's expression remained still, and he reached across the small table and pulled the lone pickle from the top of Ash's burger and tossed it on to his own. The dark-haired boy scowled under his hat. "Don't put your hands on my food."

A waitress bustled by, balancing two platters on her forearm and holding a pitcher of sake in the other hand. She had a pile of auburn hair pulled into a messy bun on the top of her head, which bounced with the same methodic rhythm as some of her other… assets. Effectively ignoring Ash's comment, Gary followed her with his eyes. Less than amused, the other boy began to eat his desecrated cheeseburger.

It'd been over an hour since Ash had escaped his persistent mother (who had only lamented to let Ash go, because he had promised to let her watch after Pikachu for the time being) and found himself standing in front of his former (and really, not-so-former) rival at Oak Labs. And after all his demands were met with the same nonchalant, irrelevant responses he was receiving now, Ash took it upon himself to join Gary for his half-an-hour lunch break.

To find out why he was summoned back to Pallet.

_Really_.

"Where are the others?" Gary asked suddenly, making his foil jump.

"What others?"

The brunette rolled his eyes. Marginally. "Your little followers."

"I wanted to come alone," Ash said hesitantly. He felt the awkward pause begin to settle between them, and shifted in his seat. "It's faster that way."

The slow uneasiness curling in Ash's stomach wasn't quailed in the least when a sly grin spread over Gary's features. "Really," he began slowly, "You sure you just didn't want some… _alone_ time with Gramps?"

Bemused, Ash leaned forward, the rim of table pressing into his abdomen. "Why would I want to be alone… with… Oak?" He paled a moment, the innuendo suddenly coming down to ring him around the ears, and then his face was hot. "You! You-" his hands flew in the air, "What is _wrong_ with you?! I wouldn't want any _alone time_ with Professor Oak!"

Gary tilted his head to the side, slightly, raised a brow. "I have no idea what you're talking about." And then he took a quick sip of his drink and leaned back in his chair, satisfied, much to the other's chagrin.

Ash pushed his plate away. "Why did you call me here? I'm wasting time."

Gary was reclining in the restaurant chair, tipped back on the last two legs, eyes closed, balancing. "I was absolutely lost without your witty dialogue and clever comebacks."

"Seriously."

The brunette opened his eyes, and brought his chair back down on all legs. He spared an instant to glance down at his watch, and then stood, adjusting the lab coat around his neck in the process. Slapping a few bills down on the table, he offered a casual wave to the waitress and headed for the door. After the momentary revelation hit him, Ash jumped to his feet and followed, furious.

"Stop being such an _enigma_!"

The road was dusty, dappled with holes and cracks as it meandered back into the center of Pallet. The sun hit the trees overhead like an afterthought, scattering an almost-there pale light over the narrow street. And over Gary. And over a none-too-pleased black-haired young man.

"I've found an island," Gary started after a beat, "Specifically, one of my scouts out in the east."

The other boy's eyes widened. Since when did Gary have scouts?

"Oak Labs dispatched a small group of reconnaissance to the area but the results were…"

"Fishy?" Ash threw out, leaning forward without noticing.

Gary had come to a stop in the middle of the road, the dim light casting a deep shadow across his face. He quirked a brow.

The other boy scowled. "Just go on."

"The information gathered was sent back and analyzed. The scouts have been dispatched since." He paused, hands in his pockets, his sharp gaze making Ash more than uncomfortable. "The sort of things we uncovered are supposed to be made public by turning them into the Poke'mon Bureau, so the island can be combed over by 'elite researchers'."

"You don't want anyone to find out about it," Ash surmised, studying his rival.

"If I send out anymore to the area, the Bureau'll catch on. But the place is a goldmine."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Gary slid forward, a slow step; close enough for the sound of his level breathing to become a rhythmic hum in the other boy's ears. Ash was still, dumbfounded by the smoldering excitement he saw lingering in his rival's eyes. Gary's voice slipped in the air like a whisper.

"I need someone I can trust."


End file.
